Week 15

This week was busy, but still relaxing. We geared up for Lincoln's last day of school until August and had a play date too. It was unusually cold outside earlier in the week, but warmed up into the 80s for the weekend. Lincoln entertained me all week with his latest questions of "What you doin' Mama?" and "What's that about?". His little lingo with the head tilt and the way he asks me, just crack me up. Corinne continues to entertain us with her dance moves. I swear she was going to flip from her back into a standing position last night---she sure is a wild one. Maybe she is destined to be on America's Best Dance Crew one of these days!

We got some new "non-choking hazard" dress up for the kids from Nana. It goes great with their play kitchen and in the real one when they help me out.





















Corinne and I had a tea party--complete with her tutu outfit!





















She loves to make sluppy noises as she pretend sips from her cup.





















On Lincoln's last day of school, he got a special crown and certificate of participation. Some of the older kids got graduate hats and diplomas. And it finally clicked for me as to why he might be having so much trouble listening in school and why he gets so upset over small things while we are there. So here is my theory....For the most part, we hang around other moms and their kids and he rarely sees dads. Well, school is a different story, and there are always dads there as it is a "parent and me" class. I think he gets angry seeing other kids with their dads, yet doesn't know how to vocalize it and in turn acts up. This week a light went off in my head when the teacher said "Now go sit on Mommy or Daddy's lap." Lincoln runs up to Mrs. Russo and says "My daddy's gone!" in a sad voice and slowly drags his feet as he walks over to my lap.















I will have to say that I am thankful for summer break and hope that by next August Lincoln has practiced his listening skills enough to get through the 2.5 hr. class without me having to drag him out into the hall for a "this means business talk".















We spent one evening playing with Legos.
















But no matter how hard we try, we can't get that stupid Lightning McQueen tractor trailer to stay together.
















I let Corinne jump on my bed one morning when Lincoln slept in.
















We visited a new park with the Lewisons that has rocks that shoot water!















Luckily Corinne was more interested in gathering discarded shoes than playing in the water.















Our umbrella finally arrived from Little Tikes and we were able to enjoy a picnic in the shade!




















Although the concept of eating outside makes Lincoln soooo sidetracked, that it takes us twice as long to finish a meal.
















Afterwards the kids played in the pool. Lincoln tried to pamper Corinne with a pool filled with rose petals.

















She was not too impressed and spent most of the time trying to pick them out.




















I somehow managed to successfully keep a hat on her head all day.





















Lincoln was super tempted to spray his sister with the hose, like he did with Colton last week!
















Later they relaxed in my chair with some yummy "Mama drink" as Lincoln calls it.
















He was not up for sharing at first.
















But I made him kiss and make up.
















Grammy also sent us a surprise package of caterpillars in the mail. At first Lincoln said "I not like caterpillars. I like butterflies", but now that he can see them growing and getting fatter and longer each day---he is very excited. He is constantly running into check on their progress! We are hoping they hatch during Grammy's visit in early June.




















QUOTES OF THE WEEK



Quote 1:
While going over all his body parts and trying to teach Corinne.
Me: "What's this?" Pointing to his ankle.
Lincoln: "It's an elbow on my feet!"



Quote 2:
Hollering from the backseat of the car.
Lincoln: "I made a toot Mama!"
Me: "Oh man, was it a stinky toot?"
Lincoln: "No, it was a clean toot!"
Who knew those even existed???


Quote 3:
Upon entering Lincoln's room when he was supposed to be napping.
Lincoln: "Good morning Mama!" with a big smile and the sweetest little voice.
Me: "Good afternoon Lincoln. You are supposed to be napping."
Lincoln: "No, it's good morning." with a head tilt and a smile "You sleep good? You have a good nap?"


Quote 4:
While examining his nipples.
Lincoln: "I not have boobies. One of my boobies has boobie milk in it for Sissy."


Quote 5:
At prayer time.
Lincoln: "And that Mommy not yell. That makes God really sad." with a head tilt and hands up in the air.
Me: I gotta defend myself here. "It also makes God really sad when you don't listen."


Quote 6: My personal favorite of the week--totally unprovoked and out of his own mind!
While skyping with Nathan for the 2nd time since he has deployed---this time during the daytime in Afghanistan so we can see his face.
Lincoln: "Oh Dada, you got dirt on your face. What's that poopy on your face?" referring to his disgusting mustache. Nathan leans in closer so he can have a better look, but the picture is still blurry.
Nathan: "That's hair kiddo. That is my scruffy!"
Lincoln: "Oh get that Chompy poopy off your face. That is dirty!"
Me: "Do you think Chompy mailed Dada some poop to put on his face?"
Lincoln: "Yes, that is dirty poop on his face. That's yucky!"

Week 14

This past week was both fun and relaxing. We had some nice play dates scheduled to keep us busy and we were blessed with some good weather during the week, but it was pretty chilly over the weekend. Corinne has been doing fabulous with learning new words and signs. Right now she can sign "more to eat", "drink", "dog", "all done", and "help". She also says "help", "more", "hi Dada", "go bye-bye", "belly button" (with pointing to it), "dog", "sticker", "book", "ball", "Mama", "all done", "brodder" (brother), and she sings part of the clean up song saying "everybody everywhere....everybody do your share!" She seems to pick things up much faster than Lincoln, probably because he is there to help teach her. I just wish he would teach her to not chew books---but since he loves it when Sissy gets in trouble, he welcomes the book eating.

Monday ended up being a crummy, cloudy day and we laid around the house a bit before deciding to organize our closets, pick out stuff we had grown out of, and space bag others to save. Corinne and Lincoln both enjoyed staying in their pjs until noon!




























And I was thankful that the clouds provided the perfect amount of darkness for afternoon naps. Corinne always wakes up first to sneak in some Mommy and Me time. We usually read a few books on the couch---a favorite is Mr. Brown can Moo Can You? Corinne has perfected the cork sound and the "knock, knock" for a hand on the door.
















Lincoln did a few repairs around the house.



















Corinne decided she wants to be a tool girl too!
















We had Colton over for a water play date. It was super warm that day and the boys didn't seem to mind the cold water.















Although part of me thinks little kids are immune to feeling temperatures when they are having too much fun.















And who doesn't like some yummy hose water?















Here Lincoln, you can have some too!














After wearing themselves out, they decided to bundle up and dry off.















Corinne had her first taste of blackberries, then broke out in a rash on her thumb sucking finger. We will approach them with caution next time around.















Then we geared up for a....














on Saturday with the Lewison family. Unfortunately it was really chilly and a we didn't have many customers. Luckily Linda came over to help drag everything out and keep the kiddos entertained.















Lincoln and Ava were convinced that her small play kitchen was still as good as new and they were not ready to part with it. Turns out no one wanted it anyways.














Corinne had her first treat of Oreos---one of Daddy's favorites.














She gave it a five star rating!














The kids definitely needed a bath after our chaotic Saturday.














I had taken some of the toys hostage last week for some deep cleaning. (I was a bit disappointed to find some mildew growing in the squirt toys. I had hoped that the dry Cali weather would ward off the mold we were constantly battling in Okinawa--turns out I was wrong.) And Corinne was happy to have her tubby time friends back.




























Corinne keeps going to sit on the potty to poop in her diaper. If I was more brave I would start "pre-potty training", but I am not, and it will have to wait a bit. She has also started a lovely fascination with helping me wipe---but only when she poops, which makes for quite a mess!



















QUOTES OF THE WEEK


Quote 1: While talking on the phone with Nathan on speaker.
Lincoln: "Our Daddy's nice."
Me: "Yes, you do have a nice Dada. He's our hero too!"
Lincoln: "He's not a hero. He's our friend!"


Quote 2: When we are about to say our bedtime prayers and I tell Lincoln we need to pray for Chomper because he pooped in my bedroom.
Lincoln: "Hold on Mama. I be right back. I need to go yell at Chompy for pooping in your room."
Climbs out of bed and runs to my room and goes over to Chomper's crate.
Lincoln: Yelling..."Chompy, No pooping on the floor in Mommy's room. That's not nice!"
Runs back into his room and climbs into bed.
Lincoln: With a head tilt and hand out to the side. "I yelled at Chompy for you, Mamom."
Me: "Thanks for taking care of that for me baby."
I guess some of those "You are the man of the house" talks from Nathan are actually working!


Quote 3:
While playing with Corinne's tea set.
Me: "Excuse me, I could use some more tea please!"
Lincoln: "No Mama! That's enough. You need to save some tea for my grocery store!"
Apparently I was being greedy!

Week 13

This week was fairly uneventful for us. We had lots of great weather and got outside as much as possible, but Corinne came down with an odd fever on Wednesday and Thursday--but only in the evening. Because all of the Tylenol and Motrin has been recalled, we had to make a late night run to Rite-Aid. She seems fine now, but I think it might be new teeth moving around in there---although I can't see or feel any new sprouting up. We did lose some sleep in the evenings, but Lincoln and I took advantage of her long nap on Friday and decided to wash my car. It was quite a task, as it was covered in mud---thanks to Nathan! But we eventually got it done. Maybe next week we will try to tackle the inside. And I have no plans to wash the truck any time soon!

When Corinne was feeling up to par, she enjoyed stealing her brother's hat while he sat helpless on the potty.



















Lincoln and I did a lot of roughhousing this week. I think he might be missing gymnastics, but I am glad those days are behind us---it was quite a workout for me too!



















The kids enjoyed some "Mimi donuts" (small powdered ones) one morning and made quite a mess.














Corinne was not happy with me when I sat her on the counter to clean up. I think she thought I was going to abandon her there.















Lincoln did a few laps around the yard---constantly reminding me to pick up the Chompy poopy!




















But he had to come in for a few potty breaks himself.

















We found a new "sand box park" as Lincoln calls it.
















And it had "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gears".















Lincoln gave the miniature monkey bars a whirl.




















And Corinne enjoyed swinging in the shade.
















Corinne's latest fascination is airplanes. She points them out whenever one flies over---about every 3 minutes as we live close to a small airport.





















Here is Corinne when she was starting to feel a bit crummy.



















Lincoln learned to make his favorite popcorn that he requests daily.
















This is his grouch face after I told him he only gets one bowl a day.
















We got the pool out for some splashing fun.




















But Corinne was completely confused by her swimsuit cover-up.




















Lincoln joined Corinne during one of her many siestas while they waited for the water to warm up.
















I let Corinne go diaper free, but she kept looking for it.














Lincoln splashed about 2/3 of the water out of the pool and it warmed up quickly after that.














Corinne was in the soak zone.














The tiny pool is just big enough for the two of them. Corinne decided to join Lincoln once the water warmed up....














And then she kicked him out.















Lincoln went inside to pretend to be Mommy.




















On Sunday we had a picnic on the patio after church.




















Chomper enjoys the picnics just as much as we do because he is at close range for picking up scraps.




















Corinne entertained us on her "hand phone" while she pretended to talk to Dada.



















And Lincoln snuck a few of her pretzels while she wasn't looking. This is his "what, who me???" face.















We had a relaxing Sunday full of smiles and laughter.















Here is a shot of the fangs Lincoln inherited from Nathan---Twilight here he comes! We are still unsure if Corinne will get the vampire chompers.















Corinne did a little running around outside before we all laid down for an afternoon nap. This was the first time I have actually got a nap in since Nathan left and it was GLORIOUS! I was so thankful for the opportunity to recharge while both kids slept too!




















And we wrapped up the week with a spaghetti dinner.















At least Lincoln did--I am unsure how much pasta actually made it into Corinne's mouth.

















QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

Quote 1:
While I am changing Corinne's diaper.
Lincoln: "Ewwwwwwwe. Sissy made poopy. PEEEEE-EWWWWE. Sissy got a lot of tiny grapes comin' outta her hiney!"

Quote 2:
Lincoln: "I wanna go fight the bad guys with Daddy when I get big."

Quote 3:
While watching the gardeners work outside.
Lincoln: "Those yard people have a some sharp man tools!"